Chicken tikka masala recipe

The dish of a thousand recipes and probably most well know as being an ‘English’ curry.

Over the years I’ve seen and cooked so many variations of this. This is the recipe that I’m currently using.

I’ll do a post soon on how to butcher a whole chicken (saves a lot of cash!) but you can use any kind of chicken meat you like, alternatively the sauce (which is made separately) can just be a base for a vegetable curry.

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

For the sauce

2 large onions, or 3-4 medium
2 red peppers
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
2-4 tbsp garlic paste
2-4 tbsp ginger paste
2 tbsp tomato paste
2-3 tbsp cumin seeds
5-10g dried curry leaves
1 tbsp paprika (not smoked)
2-3 tbsp garam masala
2-5tbsp double cream
Salt and pepper
Chilli powder (optional)

For the chicken

1 whole chicken, cut into parts and thickly diced, or 500-900g of thickly diced chicken meat
250-300g natural yoghurt
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp ginger paste
2-4 tbsp mint sauce (shop bought or homemade)

Equipment

Mixing bowl
Knife
Chopping board
Immersion blender/ food processor
Roasting tray or oven dish
Saucepan
Wooden spoon
Cling film
Tin foil
Slotted spoon

Prep and cooking (optional 1.5-2+ hours)

First to marinade the chicken, put the largely diced meat into a mixing bowl with the yoghurt, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper and mint sauce. Mix well, cover and put in the fridge (preferably overnight).
Finely dice the onion. Heat some oil on a medium heat in a pan, when warm add the onion, cumin seeds and curry leaves. Cook for 3-5 minutes stirring occasionally until the onion is soft.
Slice the red pepper, doesn’t have to be neat but not too thick, add to the pan and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
Add the garlic and ginger paste and cook for another 2-4 minutes.
Mix the dry spices with a little water to make a paste, then mix with the tomato paste, add to the pan and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
Add the tinned tomatoes, reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Remove from the heat to cool. Heat the oven to 180°c (fan) and put the chicken in a roasting tray or oven dish and cover with tin foil, cook for 30-40 minutes until the chicken is cooked.
Remove the chicken from the oven. Now blend the sauce with your immersion blender/food processor until smooth and return to a low heat.
Remove the chicken from the baking dish with a slotted spoon into the sauce. Pour any remaining liquid in the baking tray into the sauce, cover with a lid and cook for 20+ minutes.
Tikka break and have some curry.

Chicken tikka, tell me what’s wrong..

Another chicken tikka recipe to add the the masses.

It seems there’s a ton of claims as to where it originated, mainly either India, or the UK but it seems pretty conclusive whoever came up with it was of Indian decent.

The masala refers to the sauce, chicken tikka refers to the marinating and roasting of the chicken.

Supposedly here in England it’s one of our nations favourite dishes!

More recipes soon, feel free to message me with any recipe requests.

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Mughali Murgh Korma (Moghali braised chicken/Chicken Korma) recipe

I always used to think a korma was a poor excuse for a curry due to the lack of heat.

This recipe is a second request from @rachaelireland on the Facebook page.

That was until my (current) head chef shew me a recipe and i can’t deny, it’s bloody delicious, If you like coconut this is a dish for you!

The recipe i have is to make about 20 portions so i’ve cut it down best i can and hopefully it shouldn’t affect the flavour of the dish.

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the sauce

4 cloves
1 medium/small cinnamon stick
3 black peppercorns
5 green cardamom pods
2 tablespoons of desiccated coconut
1-2 tsp garlic paste
2 tbsp almond powder
1-2 tsp ginger paste
1tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 pints of natural yoghurt
Salt & pepper
1 large onion

For the chicken

2 chicken breasts
1-2 eggs
1-2 tsp garlic paste
1-2 tsp ginger paste
1-2 tsp garam masala

Equipment

Knife
Chopping board
Frying pan
Medium/large saucepan
Measuring jug
Fork, or whisk

Prep (10-15 minutes)

Start by cutting the chicken however you like, i prefer to dice it into fairly large cubes, usually about an inch in size. Beat the egg in a measuring jug with the other ingredients ‘for the chicken’, when fully mixed add the chicken to the measuring jug and mix again to coat the chicken.
Finely dice the onion.
Warm the frying pan up on a medium-high heat (with no oil). When it’s hot add the coconut to roast it, make sure you keep it moving constantly so it doesn’t burn, you’re looking for a nice brown colouring but not black, it should take a minute or two.
Now turn the heat down to medium and add a little oil or butter, fry the chicken off until cooked through and remove from the pan onto a plate/bowl.

Cooking (20-30 minutes)

Now we can get onto making the sauce, heat some oil in a saucepan on a lowish heat and add the whole spices (cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns, cardamoms & cumin seeds) and cook until lightly coloured.
Add the onion and garlic, turn the heat up a little and cook for another 3-5 minutes while stirring.
Add the remaining ingredients except for the yoghurt (coconut, ginger paste, turmeric and almond powder) and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
Take the pan off the heat and let it cool down a little. Get a desert spoon and take 1 tbsp of yoghurt and mix into the saucepan, keep doing this until all the yoghurt is mixed into the sauce. We do this because if you add all the yoghurt at once into the hot pan it will split, your sauce will look horrible, and won’t have a smooth creamy texture.
Return the pan to a medium-low heat and add the cooked chicken, cook for 10+ minutes, serve and be merry.

“Eating too much curry can put you in a spice induced korma”

A Korma is a dish that actually originated in India, as opposed to something like a chicken tikka.

The English name ‘Korma’ come from the Urdu for qormā, which means “braise” referring to how its traditionally cooked.

If you’re not a huge fan of a korma, try this recipe, it changed my mind!

More recipes soon

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